Rare Daily Staff
Sigilon Therapeutics said that it has named Rogerio Vivaldi as its CEO to replace Paul Wotton, who has stepped back from the role of CEO to manage a family health issue.
Wotton will remain with the company in an advisory capacity and will continue to hold a seat on the company’s board.
Vivaldi brings deep therapeutic and commercial experience to Sigilon as it moves into the clinic and advances to commercialization. Under his leadership, the company is expected to expand into new therapeutic disease areas beyond its initial pipeline in diabetes to include hemophilia and lysosomal storage disorders.
“Sigilon’s platform represents exciting new opportunities for patients with hematologic, enzyme deficiency, endocrine and metabolic disorders—and this is just the beginning,” said Vivaldi. “I look forward to advancing the company’s vision, mission and promising pipeline to meaningfully impact the lives of people with chronic and serious disorders.”
Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2016, Sigilon is developing a pipeline of “Living Therapeutics” of long-lasting cell therapies that can safely exist within the body. The company said its Afibromer technology—which does not trigger the body’s natural protective response to foreign objects—represents a new class of breakthrough implantable biomaterials. Engineered cells inside these Afibromer capsules secrete therapeutic cell proteins, providing patients safe and long-lasting treatment for chronic diseases.
An industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Vivaldi joins Sigilon with significant clinical and business experience. Vivaldi is a trained physician who spent 18 years caring for patients, specializing in endocrinology. Most recently, he served as executive vice president and chief global therapeutic operations officer at Bioverativ. He has also held leadership roles at Spark Therapeutics and Genzyme.
Vivaldi also co-founded and served as CEO of Minerva Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing products for patients with neuropsychiatric diseases. He holds a medical degree from the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro Medical School. He completed a residency in endocrinology at Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and a fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital Center in New York in the department of genetics. He also holds an MBA degree from COPPEAD, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
August 14, 2018
Photo: Rogerio Vivaldi, CEO of Sigilon Therapeutics
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